Kresge Foundation
Senior Program Officer – Environment
The Kresge Foundation, based in Metropolitan Detroit, is seeking to recruit a Senior Program Officer –
Environment. The Senior Program Officer will work as part of a dynamic team charged with implementing
strategies aimed to build communities’ resilience in the face of climate change. The ideal Senior Program
Officer candidate is an individual with expertise in urban climate-change adaptation and experience in
community engagement and equity.
About the foundation
The Kresge Foundation is a $3.5 billion private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in
America’s cities through grantmaking and investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human
services, and community development in Detroit. The foundation’s way of working emphasizes cross-sectoral,
high-engagement philanthropy that encompasses not only grantmaking and social investments, but also
strategic communications and field-building activities.
In 2014, the Board of Trustees approved 408 awards totaling $242.5 million. That included a $100 million
award to the Foundation for Detroit’s Future, a fund created to soften the impact of the city’s bankruptcy on
pensioners and safeguard cultural assets at the Detroit Institute of Arts. A total $138.1 million was paid out to
grantees over the course of the year. In addition, our Social Investment Practice made commitments totaling
$20.4 million in 2014.
About the Environment Program
The Kresge Foundation’s Environment Program seeks to help civic leaders build the resilience of
their communities in the face of climate change. For Kresge, resilience means not just withstanding
stresses but also prospering under a wide range of climate-influenced circumstances. Resilience in
the long term is possible only if society reduces greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst
impacts of climate change. Kresge’s perspective is that communities should advance
comprehensive and integrated approaches to build their resilience, pursuing climate change
mitigation, climate change adaptation and social cohesion while elevating the inclusion and benefit
of low-income and vulnerable populations in such efforts. Kresge is particularly concerned about the
disproportionate effect climate change has on people with limited economic resources. The
foundation believes it’s critical to engage people from historically underrepresented groups in efforts
to build resilient communities.
Kresge supports both place-based and field-building efforts. Within the place-based work, the
Environment Program directs funding to four focal areas, which are at differing stages of buildout:
climate resilience and urban opportunity, urban energy resilience, climate resilience in coastal cities
and regions, and sustainable water-resources management in a changing climate. In each of these
areas, the Environment Program seeks to foster locally grounded communities of practice. The
Environment Program also endeavors to learn from the work of its grantees and partners and to see
those lessons inform the emergent climate-resilience field nationally.
About the Position - Senior Program Officer
The Senior Program Officer will report to the Environment Program’s Managing Director and will
work in close partnership with other members of the Environment Program team as well as with
other staff across the foundation. A spirit of and commitment to collegiality and collaboration is an
essential core value at Kresge and within the Environment Program.
The Senior Program Officer will work as part of creative team charged with building and
implementing a bold, entrepreneurial and innovative program aimed to foster communities’ resilience
in the face of climate change. The Senior Program Officer will work with national, state, municipal
and county leaders to support the creation of tools and strategies that inform, equip, and empower
decision makers. Moreover, the Senior Program Officer will strengthen the capacity of place-based
entities, community leaders, and anchor organizations working to improve climate resilience. In
addition, the Senior Program Officer will capture and share learning distilled from grantees and
others to inform the field of practice nationally.
Senior Program Officer – Environment
The Kresge Foundation, based in Metropolitan Detroit, is seeking to recruit a Senior Program Officer –
Environment. The Senior Program Officer will work as part of a dynamic team charged with implementing
strategies aimed to build communities’ resilience in the face of climate change. The ideal Senior Program
Officer candidate is an individual with expertise in urban climate-change adaptation and experience in
community engagement and equity.
About the foundation
The Kresge Foundation is a $3.5 billion private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in
America’s cities through grantmaking and investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human
services, and community development in Detroit. The foundation’s way of working emphasizes cross-sectoral,
high-engagement philanthropy that encompasses not only grantmaking and social investments, but also
strategic communications and field-building activities.
In 2014, the Board of Trustees approved 408 awards totaling $242.5 million. That included a $100 million
award to the Foundation for Detroit’s Future, a fund created to soften the impact of the city’s bankruptcy on
pensioners and safeguard cultural assets at the Detroit Institute of Arts. A total $138.1 million was paid out to
grantees over the course of the year. In addition, our Social Investment Practice made commitments totaling
$20.4 million in 2014.
About the Environment Program
The Kresge Foundation’s Environment Program seeks to help civic leaders build the resilience of their
communities in the face of climate change. For Kresge, resilience means not just withstanding stresses but also
prospering under a wide range of climate-influenced circumstances. Resilience in the long term is possible
only if society reduces greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Kresge’s
perspective is that communities should advance comprehensive and integrated approaches to build their
resilience, pursuing climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and social cohesion while elevating
the inclusion and benefit of low-income and vulnerable populations in such efforts. Kresge is particularly
concerned about the disproportionate effect climate change has on people with limited economic resources.
The foundation believes it’s critical to engage people from historically underrepresented groups in efforts to
build resilient communities.
Kresge supports both place-based and field-building efforts. Within the place-based work, the Environment
Program directs funding to four focal areas, which are at differing stages of buildout: climate resilience and
urban opportunity, urban energy resilience, climate resilience in coastal cities and regions, and sustainable
water-resources management in a changing climate. In each of these areas, the Environment Program seeks to
foster locally grounded communities of practice. The Environment Program also endeavors to learn from the
work of its grantees and partners and to see those lessons inform the emergent climate-resilience field
nationally.
About the Position - Senior Program Officer
The Senior Program Officer will report to the Environment Program’s Managing Director and will work in
close partnership with other members of the Environment Program team as well as with other staff across the
foundation. A spirit of and commitment to collegiality and collaboration is an essential core value at Kresge
and within the Environment Program.
The Senior Program Officer will work as part of creative team charged with building and implementing a bold,
entrepreneurial and innovative program aimed to foster communities’ resilience in the face of climate change.
The Senior Program Officer will work with national, state, municipal and county leaders to support the
creation of tools and strategies that inform, equip, and empower decision makers. Moreover, the Senior
Program Officer will strengthen the capacity of place-based entities, community leaders, and anchor
organizations working to improve climate resilience. In addition, the Senior Program Officer will capture and
share learning distilled from grantees and others to inform the field of practice nationally.
The Senior Program Officer will create and provide intellectual support to networks of individuals and
organizations working to improve climate resilience planning, development and implementation. The Senior
Program Officer will be based in Troy, Mich. and is required to travel primarily within the U.S. approximately
25-35 percent of work days.
The broad responsibilities for the Senior Program Officer are as follows:

Shaping grantmaking and investment strategies within the Environment Program, particularly with
respect to sustainable water resources management in a changing climate.

Preparing, individually and with other team members, strategy papers, grant recommendations, other
written materials, and verbal presentations for the foundation’s management and Board of Trustees.

Identifying, conducting due diligence on, and recommending for support, those grants and social
investments that advance the program’s strategies.
Assessing the merit of potential grant and investment opportunities and monitoring active grants and
investments through review of written materials, conversations by phone, and in-person site visits.


Analyzing grantee reports and updates to determine progress toward expressed outcomes, and
contributing to the team’s learning and evaluation efforts.

Representing the foundation professionally to external entities.
Professional Qualifications and Personal Attributes
Beyond these objectives and responsibilities, the Senior Program Officer should, ideally, possess the following
professional qualifications and personal attributes:
Professional Qualifications:

Demonstrated thought leadership and understanding of the causes of climate change and its effects on
built, natural, and human systems. Experience in climate-change adaptation and resilience as relevant to
the urban context is preferred.
 Demonstrated experience working with city, municipal, state, and national public policy leaders; the
private sector; nonprofit advocates; and other community stakeholders.
 Experience working with racially and ethnically diverse and low-income communities. Experience
working on environmental sustainability and social change in urban areas is preferred.
 Experience in the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategies to effect change and in
promoting and contributing to a strong learning culture.
 Experience in project development, development of budgets and work plans, project management, and
negotiation of contracts.
 Experience using non-grant forms of capital (e.g., debt, equity, and program related investments) in the
nonprofit sector and/or knowledge of capital barriers in the climate-resilience field where philanthropic
investment may be relevant is preferred.
 Strong verbal and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to listen well, convey
thoughts clearly, speak in public, and work effectively as a member of a team.
 Experience working in, or in close partnership with, the philanthropic sector is preferred.
 Minimum of seven years’ work experience, 10 years’ preferred.
 Master’s degree in a relevant field of study is preferred. Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study is
required.
Personal Attributes:
 Personal creativity and strategic vision, coupled with an ability to listen to others and learn from their
best ideas – a sense of inquisitiveness and intellectual curiosity.
 Strong commitment to the foundation’s vision and its five values (i.e., stewardship, respect, creativity,
partnership, and opportunity) with the ability to demonstrate those values in daily interactions.
 An entrepreneurial, creative spirit.
 A willingness to challenge conventional wisdom.
 An eagerness to embrace new ideas and perspectives. An interest in working as a member of a dynamic
team.
 A demeanor that demonstrates both confidence and humility.
 A sense of optimism and humor.
Compensation
The Kresge Foundation offers an excellent benefits package and a salary that is commensurate with
experience.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should e-mail a cover letter explaining how your skills and background fit this
position and a resume to Daniel Sherman, President, Explore Company
at resumes@explorecompany.com. Refer to Kresge/SPOE in the subject line. No phone calls
please.
The Kresge Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All correspondence will remain
confidential.
- See more at: http://kresge.org/about-us/careers/senior-program-officer-%E2%80%93environment#sthash.aHuikBk8.dpuf